Improvement in guard-fingers for harvesters



UNITED f STATES PATENT @Erica M. Brides, or New YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT N GUARD-FINGERS FOB HARVESTERS.

y Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 36,796, dated Ociober`2i, 1%562.`

fo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, M. B. RIGGS, of New York, in the county of New Yorkand State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Harvester-Fingers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and complete description of the construction of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specifica'- general form of the lingers, the same being so constructed that the metal composing them has arelative uniform thi ekness, for the purpose of annealing (the linger being made of cast-iron) to the cavity below the cutter-bar for fastenin g the stationary cutters to the fingers, as an d for the purpose herein specified.

The shank A of the linger is cast open, as

i seen at A', with the holes B for securing the same to the finger-bar` by means of bolts, and this opening Aand the holes B are so ar ranged that the metal is about one-fourth of an inch in thickness, being unifornnbr nearly so, throughout the shank.

C C represent the position of the finger-bar. Upon theupper side ofthe linger is a seat, D, for the cutter-bar. Immediately below this is a cavity, E, the bottom of which forms a seat, to which the stationary cutter is secured, as hereinafter described. This cavity E is sufficiently broad and deep to allow room for the head of the screw or rivet which fastens the stationary cutter to project Vwithout coming` in a general thicknessv of metal not exceeding the other parts, and the finger as a whole presents Ainch wider than the body of the linger.

The body of the` in all its parts a great uniformity of thickness `of metal, the design and intention of which is to enable me to anneal all parts in a uniform space of time; for, by means of annealing, I am Vable to make the linger-bar very light,and`

cause it to possess the strength and tenacity of wrought-iron.

I I represent eross-bars attached to andforin- Y ing part of theiinger. The length of these bars is such that they meet end to end between the lingers. The position is froln a line even with the forward and upper edge of the knife-bar downward and backward to the forward edge of the fingerlbar, thus protecting the latter from the friction of the stubble and protecting it from any object over which the machine may pass.

The stationary cutter J is formed from platesteel, cut into the forni shown in Figz, the

blade 011 its face beingabout the tenth of an The body of the blade lies in the recess a, c', Fig. 2. The` forwardend projects into the cavity Ff and forward of the shoulder c', as seen at J', which serves to secure the forward end permanently between the shoulders a a.

rlhe shank K of the blade .I is narrower than thebody of the blade, and is bent downward to lit the bottom of the cavity E, as seen in Figs. l and 4, and is there secured by means of a screw or rivet (I prefer a rivet) introduced from the under side of the linger, where the hole Lis countersunk, the point of the rivet passingup through the hole m in the Ashank of the' blade, which latter is notcountersunk, and

riveted, ahead being formed thereby above the shank K. Vhen secured in this way, all y surface, the cutting-edges being beveled from below upward, so that in `connection with the `moving blade the action `between the two is like that of shears.

The stationary blades are tempered'only -upon their, edges from n to n, for the following-named reasons, by means of tongs the jaws of which cover the Whole length of the blade, leaving only the edges exposed: First, in attempting' to temper the Whole blade it would Warp, and could not be straightened Without drawing the temper so much as to impair its cutting qualities, and, besides, it Would be liable to break in use. By tempering only the edges the blade is not liable either to spring or break. Second, the blades occasionally need to be taken out and ground, which will of course make them narrower. By having the middle portion of the blade soft, by judicious hammering upon a flat anvil with the beak of the hammer, the blade may be widened from u time to time without drawing the temper. The

expansion need be only Widthwise.

What I claimas my improvement, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is fr M. B. meest Witnesses:

J.- BRAINERD, W. H. BURRIDGE. 

